Methodology

The top-100 companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange as per market capitalisation[1] in 2012 were mandated by a circular of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to issue annual Business Responsibility Reports (BRRs) as part of their Annual reports[2]. Since the BRR data for all 100 companies pertains to the year 2013-14, the sample data of 2012 was used.

Questions related to the five elements of the index from the NVG principles and BRR formats were framed. This set of questions was tested for two companies and, based on a review, questions to be included in the index were finalised. The questions are exclusively based on the NVG document and BRR template.

Data available in the public domain and self-disclosed (largely sourced through the company's websites) was used for the purpose of this analysis. Documents available until 20th August 2015 were used.

Draft data sheets for all 100 companies were shared with the companies for clarification and comments. All such comments received from companies will be made available online.

The process of designing the data instruments, collecting the data, analysing and processing it, took a total of approximately three months. The main steps are detailed in the image below: